Accessibility statement

Conflict and Development

The module examines understandings of development and the intersections of social conflicts and citizenship in contemporary development.

The definition and measurements of development remains contested but has significant implications for contemporary development practices. We examine a range of approaches to the definition of development as involving "needs", "capabilities", and "rights". Contemporary practices emphasise development as a process involving the participation of the poor, we examine the potential for and limitations on the participation of the poor in development in comparison with theories which approach development as "power" or "discourse".

The second half of the module examines the interrelations between development and conflict. How are inequalities - both "vertical" and "horizontal" - related to the emergence of violent conflicts? Does the exploitation of natural resources, or the patterns of political development that result from resource exploitation, contribute to armed conflicts?

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Two money-changers wait for customers at an exchange market in Kabul. (January 19, 2010 By Antoine Blua)